Live audio and video

If you subscribe or even just have satellite radio hardware, satellite radio provider Sirius XM has replaced its preview channels with live audio of The Weather Channel’s coverage of Sandy.

You can find this on channel 1 on XM radios, and channel 184 on Sirius. As this channel is available whether you’re subscribed or not, any XM or Sirius radio can listen in, even if your subscription isn't active.

The Weather Channel is streaming live video of its on-air broadcast for the duration of the storm. The video stream is compatible with mobile devices including iOS and Android. This could be useful for folks who have already lost power, but still get connectivity bars on their phones.

Various local television outlets are simulcasting their coverage online: Philadelphia’s ABC affiliate WPVI offers live video, and NBC affiliate WCAU is doing the same. In New York, expected to be one of the hardest hit areas by Sandy’s storm surge, ABC affiliate WABC also is broadcasting live online.

Storm danger

The information upticks are in response to the power of Hurricane Sandy, the so-called megastorm that is more than 900 miles wide. Sandy's path will take it across some of the most populous areas of the country and put more than 50 million people at risk.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg urges residents to evacuate low-lying areas of the five boroughs, the Weather Channel reports the hurricane was still intensifying as of early Monday morning, and the storm is even impacting the Great Lakes to the west including the Chicago area.

Tech companies including Facebook and Google postponed product events scheduled for New York City. AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon all say they have emergency measures in place to keep their networks running and restore service as soon as possible during any outages.

On the Web

Anyone looking for raw hurricane data can turn to the National Hurricane Center for information. Links to current information on Sandy appear right on the front page, including current intensity, forecast tracks, and radar and satellite data. The Weather Underground features some key storm data as well.

Google activated its crisis map Web application for Sandy, which overlays forecast information and radar data over information such as weather observations, and locations of storm shelters. If Google's Web app includes too much data to take in all at once, you can turn different layers of data on and off on the right-hand side of the page.

If you want to really appreciate Sandy’s mammoth size, head over to NASA’s Earth Observatory page. Scroll down and you’ll find links to about a dozen high-resolution images of Sandy; more hurricane images may be added over the coming days.

Apps

If you want to get an Android or iOS smartphone or tablet app for dedicated Sandy information there are numerous options, but your best bets are probably apps from the Weather Channel (Android, iOS), the Weather Underground (Android, iOS), FEMA—the Federal Emergency management Agency—(Android, iOS), and Hurricane by the American Red Cross (Android, iOS).

The Red Cross hurricane app

Don't forget that many smartphones and MP3 players come equipped with an FM radio receiver, which could come in handy for getting vital reports, especially immediately after the storm passes. If you haven't done so yet, test your device's FM radio app to see if it's working properly.

Most FM radio apps require headphones to act as an antenna, so make sure you keep a pair in your pocket after you've tested that the app works.

For tips and shelter information, you should also bookmark accounts such as @fema from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross, @RedCross. New Yorkers should also keep tabs on @311NYC, the city's Twitter equivalent of the 311 government services phone number.

Finally, if you want raw citizen journalism check out the #sandy hashtag, as well as local hashtags like #nyc, #philly, or any other city in the storm's path.

On Instagram's mobile apps, you can also use the #sandy hashtag to find photos of the storm. You cannot search Instagram directly from the web, but services such as Statigram allow you to search through the thousands of pictures that have been posted to the photo-sharing service.